Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder © 2022 Marvel Studios
Those: AMC
I think that no moviegoer has missed the trend of longer and longer blockbusters in the last 10-15 years. That a film like the first Men in Black today would be less than 100 minutes long is almost unthinkable. It is particularly true of blockbuster sequels and comic book adaptations, where a film length of at least 130 minutes is usually expected and anything below raises eyebrows. This year alone there was with the almost three-hour The Batman a prime example of this.
However, the fact that longer is not always better is currently being shown Jurassic World: A New Agewhich runs longer than all other films of the Jurassicseries, but unfortunately doesn’t make much of its running time.
But there have also been some refreshing exceptions lately, such as Venom: Let There Be Carnage from last year, which was a whopping 97 minutes long and didn’t waste much time bantering before getting straight to the point. Also Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surprised with a length of “only” 126 minutes. While still 11 minutes longer than its direct predecessor, it was shorter than any other Marvel Phase Four film.
However, he will not be able to claim this title for much longer, because when the presale closes Thor: Love and Thunder started yesterday, several cinema chain websites revealed the expected running time of the film: 119 minutes. The film does not bow to the trend of ever-longer sequels and is the shortest MCU film since Ant-Man and the Wasp (118 minutes) four years ago. However, the running time of just under two hours suits the franchise about the thunder god, whose films were not particularly long affairs from the start. The first Thor was 114 minutes long and Thor – The Dark Kingdom communicates The incredible Hulk even took first place as the shortest MCU film at 112 minutes. Only Thor – Day of Decision (130 minutes) slightly longer but pointed compared to the third Captain-America– or Spider-Man-Films a modest length nonetheless.
Despite its running time of just under two hours Thor: Love and Thunder packed with characters and plots. First there’s Thor’s adventures alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy, Natalie Portman’s return as Jane Foster and her transformation into The Mighty Thor, her confirmed cancer storyline, Valkyrie’s (Tessa Thompson) history as ruler of New Asgard, the introduction of Russell Crowe as Zeus and of course Christian Bale as new villain Gorr the Slayer of the Gods, which director and co-writer Taika Waititi raves about:
I’d say he’s the most likeable villain they’ve ever had. He has also received better ratings in test screenings than any previous Marvel villain.
Also Thor actors Chris Hemsworth is enthusiastic about the performance of the Oscar winner Bale:
It delivers exactly what you want, hope and expect. The performance has nuance, complexity, depth and a certain eccentricity that I didn’t see in the pages of the script. And as with any iconic villain, the fact that you empathize with him or ask yourself the same questions he asks or have the ideas he has makes him anything but your run-of-the-mill, vicious villain.
With the exception of Loki, interesting villains were in short supply in the MCU, especially in its early years. First Thanos, Kilmonger and Zemo in phase three and Fisk and Kilgrave from the Netflixseries have turned things around. Of course, I’m very excited to see Bale’s performance in his first comic book role since Batman.
Thor: Love and Thunder is expected on July 6th come to our cinemas.
–
